高管小圈子把持高盛董事会

    高盛（Goldman Sachs）上周宣布更换CFO，而即将卸任的CFO戴维•维尼亚将加入董事会。

    如此一来，高盛董事会中的高管成员将上升至3人，这对于一家大型上市公司来说实属罕见。现今大多数上市公司的董事会都只有一位高管，那就是CEO，而剩余的董事应该独立于管理层。

    高盛这种情况应该拉响警钟了。管理层掌握了三个投票权，董事会原本就已经很虚弱的监督职能是否会积重难返？

    但这已经不再重要。宣布哈维•施瓦茨升任CFO的电话会议上，根本就没人担忧董事会的构成情况。分析人士没有质问董事会中管理层比例过高的现象，即使公司宣称要改组董事会，也没有谁去过问。

    实际上在分析师提问时，人们甚至可以感觉到温和、赞扬（乃至）奉承的基调。当然，里昂证券（CSLA）分析师迈克•梅奥提到高盛股价低迷，同时还质疑了施瓦茨的销售背景和处理风险的能力；而桑德勒•奥尼尔投资银行（Sandler O'Neill）的杰弗里·哈特认为施瓦茨缺乏传统的CFO技能。但除了这些评论之外，分析师们普遍表现出来的温和友好恰恰证明了他们自身缺乏独立性。野村证券（Normura）分析师格伦·肖尔的开场白居然是感谢维尼亚“对我们的不吝教诲”。

    尽管分析师们绝口不提董事会的未来，但今年前些时候，高盛董事会的独立性成为众矢之的，焦点集中在是否应该将董事长与CEO职位分离的问题上。从分析师电话会议中，我们仍然很难看出高盛董事会在选择施瓦茨担任CFO的决定中参与了多少，而他们的尽职调查又进行到了什么种程度。高盛对寻求置评的电话和电邮没有作出任何回应。所有董事会成员，包括CEO劳埃德•布兰克费恩，没有一个人站出来回答关于电话会议的问题。

    作为高盛公司的顾问，前任美国证券交易委员会（Securities and Exchange Commission ）主席亚瑟•莱维特自称认识这位新任CFO，曾与他一起在委员会制定过高盛的企业标准。他觉得施瓦茨“在透明度方面总能站对立场，采取正确的行动。”“我十分尊重他……哈维是一位出色的演说家，从不怯场，但也不自吹自擂，多管闲事，”莱维特说。他认为向员工提供跨专业领域的工作机会也有益于高盛和彭博（Bloomberg，莱维特也与该公司有联系）这类公司的形象。【据《纽约时报》(New York Times)报道，前高盛员工格里格·史密斯将会在下个月出版的《我为什么离开高盛》（Why I Left Goldman Sachs）一书中披露高盛文化的弊端。】

    此外，《纽约时报》指出，有两位女性高管在CFO职位的竞争中输给了施瓦茨。“一位是司库伊丽莎白•贝希尔•罗宾森，另一位是首席会计师莎拉·史密斯。”这在高盛毁誉参半的女性升职记录上又添上一个败笔。由于在创造女性职业机会方面的努力，公司曾在2007年荣获非盈利组织Catalyst 颁发的奖项。但2010年，三名女员工起诉公司在“工资和工作方面的歧视”，还提出明确的性骚扰指控。根据高盛官网的数据，目前公司主管中女性的比例不到10%。

    这两位颇有希望的女性高管看起来都能胜任CFO。对于史密斯，莱维特评价道：“她很优秀，若是做CFO，不会比公司任何同事差。”

    When Goldman Sachs announced that it was changing CFOs last week, it also announced that it would be adding yet another insider to its board, soon-to-be-former CFO David Viniar.

    Including another management member on Goldman's (GS) board, bringing the total to three, is unusual for the board of a large public company. Today, most large public companies have only one manager on their board, the CEO, and the rest of the directors are at least deemed to be independent of management.

    A chorus of three management voices on the Goldman board is a red flag. With three management votes, will oversight ratchet down even further at a board that's already viewed as weak?

    But no matter. Board concerns were absent from the conference call announcing Harvey Schwartz's ascension to the CFO position. No analysts offered scrutiny of the board's heavily weighted management representation, nor did analysts ask about the further changes Goldman says it intends to make to its board.

    In fact, mild, complimentary and (almost) obsequious was the general tenor of the analyst Q and A. True, CSLA analyst Mike Mayo mentioned the low stock price and asked about Schwartz's sales background and ability to focus on risk – and Sandler O'Neill analyst Jeff Harte's questioned Schwarz's lack of traditional CFO skills. But those comments aside, analysts exhibited a coziness that suggested their own lack of independence. Normura's Glenn Schorr kicked off the analyst comments, thanking Viniar for "everything you taught us."

    Despite the analysts' silence on the future of the board, earlier this year, the board's independence came under fire in a public way over the separation of the chair and CEO positions. From the analyst call, it remains unclear how much the board was even involved in Schwartz's selection as CFO and how much due diligence they undertook. Goldman Sachs did not respond to a call and emails seeking comment for this story. No one from the board, including CEO Lloyd Blankfein, was available for questions on the analyst call.

    Arthur Levitt, former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and an advisor to Goldman Sachs, says he knows the new CFO, having worked with Schwartz on the committee putting together Goldman's business standards. He found Schwartz "stood almost invariably on the right side of transparency and doing things the right way." I have a "high degree of respect for him...Harvey is a good presenter and good on his feet, not pompous or officious," Levitt told me. Levitt believes it shows well for Goldman and other companies, like Bloomberg (with whom Levitt is also associated), when they create career opportunities for individuals outside their domains of expertise. (The New York Times reported that next month Why I Left Goldman Sachs, a book by former Goldman employee Greg Smith will spell out Smith's less flattering views of the culture of the firm.)

    Separately, the New York Times noted that two women were passed over for the CFO spot Schwartz ultimately received, "the treasurer, Elizabeth Beshel Robinson, and the chief accounting officer, Sarah Smith." That's too bad because the firm has a decidedly mixed record on advancing women. The bank won an award from the nonprofit Catalyst in 2007 for its efforts to expand opportunities for women. But in 2010, the firm was sued by three women alleging "pay and job bias" as well as specific charges of harassment. And today, less than 10% of its current executive officers are women, according to Goldman's own website.

    It would seem the women in the running were qualified. Regarding Smith, Levitt said, "She's terrific and could have done the job as well as anyone in the firm."